“Plentiful forges, heart of the city,
Through you alone all life must pass.
Melters of metal, cooks of alloy,
You’re the ones who give, the ones who allow.”

Ode to the Forges, brought to you by the Syndicate

Hello, burning hearts of metal!
This is Guillaume from the Tales of Metal team coming back to throw at you more metallic facts!

During the previous weeks, we have been busy drawing, writing, planing, organizing and coding. Do not forget to check our previous devlog if you want more context! We have some cool concept arts and worldbuilding to show you, so let’s dive in!

Technical status of ToM

Starting with technics!

One point we absolutely want to nail with ToM is that your actions as a player should have a noticeable impact on the world around you. It raises some questions about how to do it with Unity. Our current solution is simply to save and load the game. We decided to subdivide the world into regions which load and unload depending on your position. Then, we let you interact with the elements of a given region and save everything you do in a JSON file. And with some logic and systems, you will be able to change the ecosystems depending on your actions!

Here is a video of an early build:

Notice that if you kill the blue critters, when you come back, they stay dead! We tried it with a few thousand entities, and it works well… With a little lag on load and unload. We’ll see how to optimize this, but we will supposedly have to deal with fewer entities. It should work well. More on the ecosystems and how they will evolve in a following post!

Where Phoenix comes to die

Lore time!

You are the only captain of the sole Ilmari ship able to survive the frost plains around your home city. But what is your ship exactly?

The Ilmari, especially the ruling factions, worked for years to develop a functioning ship, in vain. It is the providential arrival (and death) of a mysterious creature that gave them the missing key: a heart strong enough to retain and release enough heat.

Here are sketches of the dead phoenix (placeholder name) and your ship:

Noticing the similarities?

However, the powerful heart is as dangerous as the killing frost, resulting in numerous deaths attempts before you were the one to survive piloting it. Congratulations! The Factions are proud of you!

Learn more in our dedicated video on our socials!

The Factions

Talking about factions, here are some additional lore!

They are five ruling factions in your home city. Each of them rules over a part of Ilmari lives. Their power is unmatched.

The Academy gathers the scientists. They study and learn and teach, and also heal. But science without conscience is but the ruin of the soul. And they can be quite souless… Nevertheless, you need them to probe and understand the world.

The Creators are the best crafters among the Ilmari. They tend to know it, and to take a lot of pride from it. Not acknowledging it can put you in a difficult position if you need quality workers and supplies.

The Eudaemons are what remain from the previous sole ruling class of the City. Decades of decadence and debauchery brought them to their knees. However, they are still among the most powerful and dangerous Ilmari you can meet. But they have a lot of money, and they party like no others.

The Syndicate is the pulsing heart of the city. Through an iron grip on the forges, its loyal workers ensure affordable metal to every household. Of course, “affordable” depends on circumstances, and “loyal” is proven through a monthly fee. Despite their original noble intentions, the Syndicate members are as ruthless as the members of other factions, but they may be your best clients if you have metallic food to sell.

The Luminaries bask in the light of the God of Heat and promise any hopeless Ilmari a joyful and scorching hot afterlife, far from the Frost God reach. They imposed their beliefs through piety and faith, of course, but also by claiming the Heat well, the main source of heat in the city, as their own. It’s a religious relic after all! Its place is in a church! Their power makes it impossible to ignore them.

But what do Ilmari think of these Factions ruling over their lives?
Here is a famous and loved song containing some political facts opinions:

I want to be in the Academy if I get out to explore
With innovative technology that we’ve never seen before.
I want a good ship, I want a good trip and I don’t want to freeze.
I want to be in the Academy, I don’t care what the cost is!

I want to be with the Creators if I ever end up poor.
I want to show my abilities like I never could before.
I want to deserve to climb at the top and sit there comfortably.
I want to be with the Creators, and forge my own glory!

I want to be a Eudaemon, if I’m rotten to my core.
I want to host every party, every after and before.
I want to be rich, I want to enjoy, I want good ores to wear.
I want to be a Eudaemon, and I do not want to care!

I want to be in the Syndicate if they sent me off to war.
I want strong Ilmari with me, like my grandparents before.
I want a good team, I want comradery to defend my family.
I want to be in the Syndicate, I don’t care about the fee!

I want to be with the Luminaries, if I can’t endure no more.
I want to see what comes after, don’t care much about before.
I want a new life if I ever melt or freeze or even rust.
I want to be with the Luminaries, but only if I must…

Teod’nur, Ilmari poet and free thinker

The science corner

But you know what is the main point of doing a game in a universe made of metal?

METAL PROPERTIES ARE METAL!

Here are some science facts which we plan to use in our game:

• Some metals like Sodium or Cesium EXPLODE (or at least combusts) if they are in contact with air or water. “Look guys! I just found… BOOM!”
• Some metal corrodes others. If you put gallium on aluminum, the aluminum will turn brittle, like a parasite ate it. Witness it in this video!
• Also, some metals are super toxic (like lead), while some are essential to life (like iron).
• We are wondering if we would do something with semiconductors.
• You can make green flames by burning copper.
• Aluminum melts before it gets red.

More science later!

That’s all metallic folks!

Thank you for coming all the way here!
I hope you liked this devlog, as the previous one and the ones to follow!
We cannot wait to deliver more about Tales of Metal, so stay tuned!

See you, burning hearts of metal!

“Hop! Hop! Hop the day!
Don’t let it pass, skip it away!
Don’t think, don’t feel,
Just eat, just sleep, just live, just leave!
There is no day better than tomorrow.
So give it a day, or two in a row!”

Party song for the Eudaemons